2018 Chappellet Mountain Cuvee Proprietary Red Napa Valley 750 ml

We didn’t believe it ourselves, so we had to dig through the Wine Access archives. For all the ink we’ve given Phil Titus—the 100-point winemaker behind Wine Access-favorites Coho and Titus—and all the times we’ve invoked the incredible wines he’s made at Chappellet, could it be that we’ve never actually offered a red wine from the legendary winery?

Turns out it’s true. Yesterday, we offered the 2018 Chappellet Mountain Cuvée—a full-bodied and full-throttle red bursting with currant, black plum, black raspberry, allspice, mocha, clove, and toasted oak complexity—our very first red wine offer from the Pritchard Hill icon. 

In just a few hours Wine Access members snapped up our entire allocation of this stunning red blend, which showcases Chappellet’s $300 terroir for less than 1/3rd of that. We don’t blame you—this is a dynamite red from one of Pritchard Hill’s founding families. Today, we’re thrilled to share that because of our longstanding relationship with Phil Titus, we have managed to secure another (small) allocation of the 2018 Mountain Cuvée exclusively for  Wine Access members. But don’t wait—even Phil’s magic in the cellar can’t make more of this dense, concentrated Cabernet blend appear.

Securing our first-ever wine from Chappellet merited a visit to the site that started it all. So we headed up Silverado Trail, turning east on Highway 128 and struggling to keep our eyes on the road as Lake Hennessey shimmered below. Now known for some of the most priceless wines produced in Napa Valley—Colgin, Continuum, and Ovid all sit on these soils—Pritchard Hill wasn’t always a foregone conclusion. But Donn and Molly Chappellet had a vision, and took a massive leap of faith when they purchased their estate in the 1960s. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the gambit had the approval of no less an authority than Napa Valley godfather André Tchelistcheff.

It was a wise move, and the list of talent that has called Chappellet home is a testament to the singular terroir: Philip Togni, Tony Soter, Cathy Corison, and Helen Turley have all played roles at Chappellet. Phil Titus joined in 1981 and took over as winemaker in 1990. He has since guided the estate to two 100-point wines, and a profusion of 96+-point scores. In other words, the kind of scores that make a career, Phil and Chappellet make a regular occurrence. 

The Mountain Cuvée is a Bordeaux-style blend that, from the first swirl of the glass, delivers everything we expect from Phil and the winery he helped put on the map. Sourced from Chappellet’s Pritchard Hill estate and partner growers in Napa Valley, it’s lush and concentrated, with supple tannins that beg for early drinking. This is an affordable way to taste Chappellet’s Pritchard Hill terroir, and we’re thrilled to bring you this bargain red blend.  

With the estate Cabernet Sauvignon fetching nearly $300 and the Napa Valley bottling going for more than $70, this Cabernet- and Merlot-dominant blend is the perfect way to stock up on an icon—especially in a fantastic 2018 vintage that spread the wealth from Chappellet’s flagship bottles to ones like the Mountain Cuvée, which will make you think you’re drinking the kind of Chappellet classic for which collectors drop hefty three-digit sums.  

Titus and Chappellet. We drop the names a lot, we know. If you want to know why, you can’t do any better than Phil’s 2018 Mountain Cuvée. Don’t miss it.